


Tingles

by jedireylo, liftingrocks



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Angst, Chatting & Messaging, Eventual Smut, F/M, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, YouTube
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-21 06:06:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15551328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedireylo/pseuds/jedireylo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/liftingrocks/pseuds/liftingrocks
Summary: a calming, pleasurable feeling often accompanied by a tingling sensation . . . . because of him.





	1. Resonance

**Author's Note:**

> So this idea started out when some friends found a Kylo Ren ASMR Interrogation / Personal Attention / Dark Side Tingles video and we listened to it together. We were crying real tears about how good it was. And then, we started to talk about the fact that… what if someone found ASMR? 
> 
> We hope you enjoy Tingles, the crazy journey of Rey and her autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR).
> 
> follow us on twitter @cosmicreas @jedireylo
> 
> -Rea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating.

He was alone. Breathing through his black and silver mask for the camera. A makeshift black backdrop, pinned against the walls of his Los Angeles apartment. Pressing the recording button was one of the most nerve-wracking things to do, for someone who knew so little about this strange topic. All Ben knew was that you could get tingles. Ben looked at his reflection through the camera’s small lense, before fixing his black hair and placing the mask over his head.

“Welcome to my channel… today’s video,” Ben tilted his head, the mask tilting with him as he tried to get a different angle, moving in around the camera to whisper, his words pausing as he inhaled slowly. _This sounded so stupid._

“Will consist of mask breathing sounds.” His voice was deep and precise, but so nervously calming as he started to breathe and mutter inaudibly into the microphone, the soulless eyes of the mask staring directly into the camera with a soft exhale. His black gloves reached out for the camera as he continued to breathe sporadically for a few minutes, before deciding to stop the video.

This was simply an experiment. An extra credit assignment for his psychology class. He didn’t expect that much attention from the world. Working with what he could: a mask he found at the party store, a microphone borrowed from his professor, and a camera and tripod. After finishing the video, he decided to edit a few parts before giving it a name. When he took his mask and gloves off, he felt different, but more of himself. Still, he needed an accurate title. ASMR Mask Breathing Sounds. That was enough, a simple upload onto YouTube and email to Professor Skywalker to make sure he got that credit.

It was hard to explain his feelings about ASMR, he did feel foolish during the interactions he had with the camera, but part of him wished he could spend all day in the mask, talking through the voice module or tapping on it’s jagged edges. Ben wasn’t one to intentionally fall asleep to other people whispering or pretending for fun, he preferred listening to the same song on repeat and just going to bed.

As the reach of the video started to unexpectedly grow beyond the borders of his college campus and into houses around the world, he reached over 1.3 million hits on his first video alone. Comments, likes, and subscriptions began to flood his notifications day by day. Ben really didn’t feel special, he felt dishonest with the world he was hiding behind a mask for a video to try and reach out to an invisible person and give them pleasure. Until, he found the most liked comment, high above his feed:

 

> **Rose Tico** \- You should totally do more mask videos!!

897 likes.

_So the people really wanted this?_

* * *

 

She was surrounded. Focused on perfecting a backstitch, Rey was working tirelessly on repairing an old blouse. Hearing her roomates voices boom louder than usual from across the room, the freelance seamstress looked up from the article of clothing to find that her best friend, Rose, and her boyfriend, Finn, were arguing. Used to their bickering, she tuned them out and returned to her work. She continued uninterrupted for what only seemed like a moment, startled by a shout of her name and poking herself with her needle. Sucking on her finger to ease the pain, Rey did not reply immediately. She looked out the window over Boston Harbor, fed up.

“REY! DID YOU HEAR ME? WE NEED YOUR OPINION!” bellowed Poe, finally intercepting Finn and Rose’s disagreement.

Huffing, hating being interrupted, Rey glanced to the other side of the room. Rose looked at her expectantly.

“Rey, do _you_ think ASMR is stupid? Finn says it is but he doesn’t watch nearly enough-”

Stopping Rose from rambling, Rey interrupted.

“What the hell is ASMR?”

“It’s a new YouTube trend. Basically, a fancy microphone - I think it’s called a binaural - picks up sounds that give you tingles.”

“It’s an ability to feel a pleasant tingle sensation that can be triggered with visual stimuli.”  Finn teased his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her. “Not everyone can get ASMR, though. Most normal people like to sleep. I don’t get it, at all.”

Tingles? Rey had no idea how her friend found these things.

“Here - let me show you. It _sounds_ unpleasant, but I promise you - there’s a whole community. I’m emailing you link to my favorite ASMR channel right now.”

Later that night, Rey sat alone in her room. She was sitting at her desk, replying to customer emails about their purchases on her laptop. After completing her response, she hit send, moving on to answer the next when she spotted Rose’s name in her inbox. Remembering the events from earlier that day, Rey opened the email.

Reading the channel name aloud as she clicked on the link, Rey whispered to herself,

“asmrkylo”

She should sit down for this. So, she brought her stitching into bed with her, and sat her laptop on her lap, propped up against her pillow, awaiting the first video that could make or break several friendships in the apartment.

As soon as she plugged her headphones into her computer and pressed play on the video, she had to turn the volume up to even hear what was going on. It was a voice. By judging his appearance of the mysterious mask cloaking his face, she thought it would be much harder. Maybe she could give this video a chance, as she worked on her blouse, threading the needle in and out and just… listening to the low sounds of his voice.

They were relaxing. He was talking about this being his first video, and whenever he took a breath, it started to give her goosebumps. It felt like he was really there with her. But is this what her life has come to? Watching someone she didn’t even know breathe? The questions she had were endless, as Rey couldn’t even make it halfway through the video because she was so tired just from becoming immersed into it. Rey drifted off to sleep, putting her stitching down, but leaving her laptop on, with the sounds of asmrkylo still circulating through her systems.  

Poe walked down the hallway, ready to go to sleep. He checked in on Rey, opening her door a little. “Goodnight, Rey. Oh…”

He smiled when he saw her headphones connected to her laptop, as Poe walked up to her and moved everything out of her way. It wasn’t common for people to find themselves wrapped up in their headphones with devices half-charged the day after, so Poe was looking out for her. He subscribed to asmrkylo for her before closing all tabs and shutting the computer off. 

Maybe she _did_ get her first tingles. 


	2. Modulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> variation in the strength, tone, or pitch of one's voice.

The demands to work with asmrkylo were off the chart. Community members with the usernames of Gibi ASMR, ASMR Darling, and GentleWhispering ASMR were all interested in collaborating with him. He only scheduled one collaboration for the future, and that was with another male in the industry, HuxWhispers.

Ben also found himself attached to a YouTube acclaimed manager, named Snoke. He didn’t quite know what to expect with an official manager, and only one video, but he had several ideas for the future. The current content creators who are under Snoke said that he changed their life drastically and made the promotion process effortless to expand the channels of their own.

Now, Ben sat at his desk, drafting his next idea and what triggers he would use: following the light, mask sounds, and tapping. That was a good start. Next, he could build on what he would utilize. First, his mask and gloves. He could tap with those. Easy. The light following, that would be on the bolder side. He could use a flashlight and be content with that, but Ben wanted something else. His next project, would be creating a red stick of light. Kind of like, a huge glowstick. It would work with his black aesthetic, and it would be more attractive to follow. He had to work on that though, as he starred the memo on his list.  This video would take months to perfect, so there was no need to rush. By drafting first, this gave him an idea on what to say, where to look, exactly what prop he had to grab. He was actually excited for the next video, and hoped it would impress Snoke while also giving the people what they wanted: more of him, but not too much.

Then, his phone started to ring.

Mom.

Ben answered it swiftly, confused as to why she would call him this late at night.

“Hi, Ben.”

A pause.

“Hi, Mom?”

“Did you… get the news?” She sniffled.

“What news?”

_Did he miss something?_

“Knight University just had a press release, but I thought you would of known by now. Honey, Luke passed away in his sleep yesterday.” She sounded so worried, breaking the news to her son. She even began to tear up on the other side.

“Are you serious? He just like, graded my finals, and he still had classes to teach?” Ben was in denial. He was one of those teachers that went above and beyond for people. He brought them back onto the right track. 

More importantly, although they weren’t close family wise, Leia thought it would be best for Ben to pursue his interests with someone he knew: his Uncle. Uncle Luke cared about Ben, but Ben couldn’t express how thankful he was enough for that kind of person in his life.

“I’m not kidding, Ben.”

"He didn't even say goodbye!"

Ben had to accept the fact that he was gone. He just… couldn’t. Not yet.

“So like, should I fly home?”

“No, you don’t have to. Services will be held at the school I think, so the community could make it.”

“Ok.”

More silence.

“I love you, Mom. I’ll text you, okay?” Ben promised to continue to check in on her.

“Ok, Ben. I love you.”

Ben closed the call out, frustrated with himself. Now wasn't the time to live in the pretend world he was starting to build up in his head. 

 

* * *

There was a break longer than expected for asmrkylo. A void too huge to step up to, yet. That anticipated video, put back a few weeks, as Ben had time to celebrate the life of his Uncle with his family. The services had to end, the burial had to happen, and sure enough, the relatives separated back into their normal lives. Ben’s life was far from normal now, focusing all his new-found energy into keeping the channel active for Luke and his memory. His Uncle deserved all the credit in the world, and Ben could attempt to maintain that credit through his videos.

“Hey everyone… welcome back to my channel.” His voice sounded defeated, swallowing a short breath as his mask relayed the sound to the microphone sadly.

That’s how his second video, ASMR Mask Sounds/Whispered Rambling Storytime about why he was absent, began. This wasn’t a pity party. Not at all. Just an honest reason why he couldn’t please everyone those few weeks, because of what happened in the family.

“So, I would like to start off by letting everyone know that there will be many more future projects and videos to come. I just wanted to give you an explanation on where I was the past few weeks, and how I got into ASMR in the first place.” Ben reached out to tap the lens of the camera, trying to get the audience involved somehow.

“ASMR was a mistake, actually. A happy accident, I guess. I was about to fail my Psychology class at Knight University… go Knights..” Ben held up a notebook from his old class, his black gloves circling the logo of the orange KU artwork on the front.

“My professor… who was also my uncle… offered an extra credit project for anyone willing to try it. To make an ASMR video. So I put together a few props, obviously,” He then exhaled through his mask, pointing to the air that would eventually turn into a box for people to click on his first video if they missed it. Then, Ben explained the core of the video: what happened to Luke. Every minute of that video probably wasn't ASMR, and he was positive it  _sucked._

“Thank you for watching, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe..”

* * *

Rey found herself stitching up one of Rose’s skirts, and after opening her inbox to see her new client requests, a YouTube notification email was sent out that asmrkylo had posted a new video. Her headphones were inserted in, she felt relaxed as she tied her hair into a messy bun and waited for the video to refresh.

Looking at her screen, she felt comfort in the same masked figure on it. Rey searched over the hem of her stitching, and continued to travel her needle through the taupe fabric, as he began his storytime. At first, the words he were saying didn’t quite make sense to her, until she understood the whole context.

The meaning of the channel really stuck to her. He started ASMR because of his uncle. She wasn’t even aware of this, until now. Something so powerful about family though, especially his, which made Rey start to cry. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She felt relaxed, but empty because of how sudden his uncle was out of the picture now. As soon as he said his thank you’s for watching, Rey slammed her laptop shut and noticed how damp the skirt was now, because some of her tears slipped on to it. She then stood up and walked to Rose’s room, sobbing.

She opened the door to find Rose and Finn. It looked like Rose wasn’t watching ASMR. Rey didn’t mean to interrupt, but she held the skirt crumpled up in her hand. Finn then turned on the lamp next to him, as Rose gasped.

“Oh my God Rey, come here! Who hurt you?” The two sat up in bed as Rey walked over, handing Rose her finished skirt.

“Sorry it’s wet…” Rey tried to giggle, sitting on the bed and continuing to wipe her cheeks off with her white shirt.

“Rey, forreal. You got a boyfriend? Breakup? Something?” Finn tried to comfort her.

“Did you see his recent video?” Rey looked at Rose, tearing up again.

“No, asmrkylo’s?” Rose reached for her phone, scrambling to search for his channel.

“Don’t do it then. It’s sad.” Rey huffed, trying to feel a little better. She then explained the purpose of the video, as Rose felt like she was going to lose her emotions too.

“I was gonna go to Knight University for their psych program.” Finn was shocked, listening in as he understood.

Rose placed her hand on Rey’s forehead, as everyone calmed down. “Oh Rey, I'm sorry. I told you you’d love him. Come here, group hug. Asmrkylo’s uncle is in a better place.”

Rey nodded, hugging Rose and Finn as she got her confused emotions off her chest, shrugging and trying to take deep breaths. “Goodnight. Thanks for letting me cry.” 

Rose and Finn said goodnight to Rey, as she walked back down the hallway past Poe’s room, and into her bed again. No ASMR video tonight, just a dreamless sleep which left her numb, wanting to support whoever was behind the mask.

Thinking about _that_ video, and  _him_. 


	3. Pinna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the part of your ear that is on the outside of your head

The emails sounded heartless, but the intention was legitimate. To talk to Ben about his channel. Snoke, his manager, questioned every opportunity possible to pry out the location of his client. Ben didn’t feel comfortable revealing the specifics yet. He would defend how he felt over the video call. 

His signal was strong as he set his computer up on his desk and made sure his camera was all set. Now it was time to see Snoke, and face him. This would be the person who would make Ben successful. Ben felt like he owed his life to this industry giant. He even put his mask on for the manager, and felt comfortable enough to chat that way.

Until, Snoke appeared into the video chat with him, and cut any last tensions by speaking first.

“You don’t need that silly disguise, it’s only me.” His voice was building on a cold type of sarcasm.  

Ben’s hands shakily moved up to move the mask off of his head, as he stared into the camera and toward the screen to find the person he and his channel were bound to for a few years, Snoke. He felt like a god, he looked like a dishevelled older man lined with wrinkles, with an even bigger character. His shadow loomed across the screen, adding to his mysterious build. Ben wasn't going to throw his chances and career away by not taking off his mask, so he just gave in. Maybe Snoke was right. The mask was just a silly disguise so he shouldn't continue to wear it in videos. Although, that mask was a defining part of him, the most important prop. 

“You really think you can do something, with that hideous mask? I feel nothing- no _tingles_."

Ben gulped when Snoke pronounced the last word sharply. Snake didn't understand. 

"You know, the mask could be used as a great marketing tool. Use the mask for your normal viewers, take it off for those willing to support you, even more.” Snoke’s dark eyes widened, his fingers brushing together as if he was moving coins around in his hand, eyebrows raising with a brilliant scheme. “For the adult viewers, different content.” 

“What do you mean?”

“You have to sell yourself. How far are you willing to go? This industry is cruel, Solo.”

Ben cringed, hearing his last name. He decided to correct him. “AsmrKylo.”

“This world you’ve built up in your head is nothing compared to what else will be emerging soon. Competition. You have to be the ASMR artist to beat, if you are trying to escape the real world.”

To _beat?_ He wasn’t some pop singer or snobby lifestyle guru, his purpose was to relax people. In fact, his competition relaxed him. Everyone benefited from each other. But there wasn’t much else going in his favor: his family separated, his uncle dying, finishing college and still not knowing what to do. Snoke demanded so much of him.

“I promise you that my methods work to this madness called YouTube. Find a way to make money- fast. Scam, if you have to. None of the blame would be on you, I would take it all and defend you until the end. Think about your channel, your audience, your content, Ben. What does it need? Who is behind the mask?”

Snoke pressed out of the chat, leaving Ben to stare into the black screen of the desktop and take his manager’s criticism of his own work to heart. Asmrkylo could do so much better. Money would be a stretch, Ben could financially support himself and his own props, but maybe he could word it differently.

Donations. That would please Snoke.

He searched Patreon.com, and sent the findings to his manager.

  1. A meaningful revenue stream
  2. Regain creative freedom
  3. Over $350 million sent to creators



The description also added that “fans pay you a subscription amount of their choice in exchange for exclusive experiences & behind-the-scenes content.”

Snoke was one step ahead of Ben, and sent the login information back to him. Now, he had to really make his manager proud. Another video. Not exactly an ASMR one, rather a channel announcement. He would still have his mask on, and speak softly, while also apologizing for the lack of content lately. He was just trying the motivation and spark to make his channel succeed- thanks to Snoke and his own creativity.

* * *

 

The roommates had found themselves laughing at each other and eating too much Panera Bread mac n cheese, before moving their spontaneous lunch date out into the Boston Common park at golden hour. Finn, Rose, Poe, and Rey rode their bikes across the winding paths of the city, as Rey soon forgot about the daunting demands of what orders she had to finish when she got home, a bathing suit for a neighbor, a dress for the local librarian, Amilyn, and just the pattern she was freehanding. 

She wasn’t that stressed, just trying to find herself in the smaller moments of random happiness with the people who mattered most. The wind in her hair, the swishing of the tires, the ping of her small bell. Even Poe managed to smile at Rey, making her giggle as she noticed Rose and Finn were racing each other. Then, she remembered. She rang her bell. 

Poe looked at Rey again, pedaling along, surprised as to why she pressed it. 

She slowed down her bike, and eventually skid off the trail and toward a tree, the light of the lamp whizzing over her head as she flew onto her feet abruptly. Her foot missed the brake completely.

“Rey? Hey, guys!” 

Finn and Rose heard Poe and rode back to where he was stopped, realizing Rey had fell off her bike.

Rey ran over to the bench under the streetlight as Poe fixed her kickstand. “You ok?”

“What happened?” Rose gazed at her friend, wondering how she fell.

Now, Rey was staring down at her phone, her finger grazing over to her YouTube app, realizing the first time she heard a bell, it wasn’t from the bikes. Her phone was trying to tell her something. More specifically, AsmrKylo.

Her three friends were surrounding the stopped girl, in the middle of the park as Rey continued to sit on the bench.

“I’m fine. We can go.” Adjusting the elastic on her ponytail upwards, Rey pointed back to her bike and got on it, trying to act normal. She really was fine, nothing was wrong. She just forgot about that channel she had turned her notifications on for, AsmrKylo. He finally posted another video: “Channel Announcements". 

As Rey finished biking back to the apartment, she knew how tonight would go: putting her headphones in, curling up, and listening to what he had to talk about. Her stitching, too. It was one of those nights that had a purpose to her. These night were few and far between, because of how much AsmrKylo had been lacking in content for her or Rose to fangirl over. Sure, she could always move on to other artists, but nobody else was the same. She was grateful that there was another video for her to invest in, as she pressed play and dug her needle into the design, a red thread braiding into a soft brown fabric that she was working on. 

Rose walked down the hall, proudly finishing the shorter Channel Announcements video of Kylo’s, as she called into Rey’s room her usual goodnight.

“I’m donating to get that exclusive content first, goodnight Rey!” Rose was confident there wasn’t a more dedicated Asmrkylo fan out there. 

Rey couldn’t hear her friend, headphones blaring over the background noise as she listened patiently to his channel announcements. Setting up a donation page, and asking for video ideas.

It was worth clicking the link, which sent her straight to a website called Patreon. 

She settled with a custom pledge of $20, and signed up to become a patron of his. All the sewing supplies in the world, all the rent, and the gas money she ended up having to pay her roommates, none of that compared to how she felt about this channel. 

As soon as the circle refreshed in front of her and the locks clicked to unlock the secret videos, her heart settled down. She almost dropped her needle in shock that there was no video of… the person behind the mask. 

They were more videos of AsmrKylo, with his mask on. Rey had the instinct to watch every video right away, soaking in all of the tingles she could - but had the gut feeling to just explore his page even more. He left a chatroom for patrons to leave suggestions for future videos. He also posted wishlist of props he desired from Amazon for future roleplays.

Rey considered shutting her computer off when she noticed a familiar comment from Rose, who seemed to be everywhere.

> **Rose Tico** : You should do a mechanic roleplay, like a fixing you scenario! Radar technicians are cool! 

Why was that so funny to Rey? Asmrkylo would NEVER take his mask off, not even for Rose's comment. In all seriousness, Rose's love for ASMR and now her new-found support of Kylo could have the potential to start some friendly competition between them. She moved on from Rose's request, and found a prop wishlist of items that could be purchased, or money toward those items donated directly to Kylo. Scrolling down the list of potential props, she saw several different ones.

Duct tape, velcro, studded belts.. 

Overwhelmed, Rey moved on from the list and continued searching. 

She came across a request form for custom videos. It had various options for customization, varying in price, like video length, which could be from five minutes to an hour. There was a checklist for certain props that could be requested. Each additional prop increased the price. At the end of the form, there was a textbox for additional requests. 

Biting her lip, Rey pondered on what she really wanted. None of the props listed particularly stood out to her. But AsmrKylo did.

She wrote her request and confirmed it hastily after a few moments of hesitation, sending it before she could talk herself out of it. She shut her computer and remained still where she sat, thinking about what she had just done. She stared at the red thread she begun to work on, and continued to stitch as she eased her mind out of the silly request. 

 

* * *

Opening his computer, Ben logged into his email account and quickly noticed a notification from Patreon. He clicked on it eagerly, curious to see what it was. 

> _Custom Request from user: reythreads_


End file.
